Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...

Explore how photographs can represent a whole story to a viewer. Middle schoolers work on narrative writing techniques in this lesson, focusing on photographs from the New York Times to write first-person descriptive narratives....

Show a Powerpoint presentation about descriptive writing. Fourth graders brainstorm a list of writing topics and place them in graphic organizers. Then they write their own paragraphs describing topics of their choice and create...

When Europeans first came back with tales of China, they provided vivid written accounts and minimal visual imput. This resulted in art rendered mostly from descriptive language. Learners explore this phenomena by listening to...

You don't have to travel far to learn about rocks, just step outside, pick up a stone, and begin investigating. After taking a class walk around the school grounds collecting rocks, young scientists practice their skills of observation...

Where the Read Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls is rich with themes relating to love and family. Help your class to understand these themes with the series of reading activities included in this unit outline. Readers can keep a journal to...

Young scientists develop their observation and writing skills as they craft and then post a detailed description of a plant or animal they have spotted and photographed.

Second graders analyze descriptive writing. In this writing lesson plan, 2nd graders read a story with a villain, describe the villain in words, and create a Wanted Poster describing him on paper.

As the story unfolds, readers discover Matilda has a superpower. Take part in an activity that has learners talking about what superpower they would have, how they would use it, and how it could help others. Then, after reading the...

A cork, a rubber snake, and a bucket of mud may not seem like the best materials for washing a car, but they are in The Twits. The fifth lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has readers role play...

Transform your class into young geologists as they learn about six different branches of geology. Using the included geology career descriptions and picture cards, learners work in small groups deciding which tools and locations fit...

How can people better understand their rights? Scholars explore the question with the second of four installments in the Introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights lesson plan series. Learners watch and write descriptions...

Students brainstorm adjectives that describe people, discuss different ways of comparing and/or finding contrast in describing a person, and write drafts of their descriptions.

A 55-page unit examines the novel, The BFG, by Roald Dahl. Six lessons pay close attention to friendship, dreams, and believing themes while analyzing interesting characters, writing creative vocabulary, smilies, metaphors, an exciting...

Students use their senses to write descriptive sentences. In this descriptive writing lesson, students discuss their senses. Students are asked to look at and feel unpopped corn kernels. Students then write descriptions of the corn...

Students describe and draw what an engineer looks like and does. They descrie what they think an engineer does. Students volunteer to read their description to the class. They use their knowledge as well as their classmate;s...

Bring the Age of Exploration into the 21st century with this ancestry activity! Learners get a chance to explore the complex genealogy of the Spanish settlers through watching two video clips (approximately five minutes each) featuring...

Music can help us to access memories and events in a meaningful way, and Francis Scott Key used specific words to convey what he had seen and felt when writing what would become America's national anthem. Help your class connect to...

From start to finish, this is a truly excellent lesson plan addressing the epidemic of diet-related disease in the United States. Learners begin with a reading excerpt of detailed information on trends in the American diet and the...

It's no myth: this packet on Greek mythology is an excellent addition to your social studies curriculum. With writing activities, such as short answer responses and biopoems, and reading activities, which include creation stories and...

Take some time to focus on Christopher Columbus, his three ships, the purpose of his voyage, and the new land he discovered. Pay special attention to the included additional materials, they are the real value in this resource.

Students explore Aboriginal storytelling traditions through the spoken word and through visual culture. They listen to stories of the Dreamtime told by the Aboriginal people and investigate Aboriginal storytelling in contemporary dot...

Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...

Inspire your class to look at their environments as if they were seeing them for the first time in order to gain a better understanding of the concept of perspective. After exploring their communities and keeping a journal of major...